Thursday, March 26, 2009

28

The title of this post is pretty significant, for once! 28 is how old I am now, after my birthday on the 14th. Yikes. And 28 is also the number of pounds I have lost in about 12 weeks! I am much more excited about the second "28" than the first. I am 2 lbs. away from my goal, and finally got rid of all my "fat clothes." Yes! So sorry for not posting more often, but I've been too hungry (ha ha, just kidding!!) My mom was here for my birthday and the week after, so Andy and I got to have a couple "dates" with a free babysitter! Not that my mom or child could have cared less about where I was...Maddie and her GiGi had a ball and love each other so much. It makes me so happy to see that they still have a great relationship even though they only get to see each other every few months. Here they are, all snuggled up.



I had a great birthday dinner at my favorite place, The Melting Pot. Here is a picture of me and Andy before gorging ourselves on cheese, meat, and chocolate. (The memory is making my mouth water!)


Mom also helped me with a ton of projects, like cleaning out the closets and getting goodwill bags together, and a little redecorating/organizing. Sometimes, all I needed was someone just to keep the baby occupied so I could actually FINISH something. I love it when people ask me, "So, aren't you bored being a stay-at-home Mom?" I usually laugh and tell them if I ever was, I'd be neglecting something, whether it's my house, husband, child, or (heaven forbid) myself! It was great to have an extra pair of eyes, ears, and hands around here, and it made me appreciate my Mom so much! Oh yeah, and any Mom-Stephanie-Maddie time includes lots of eating out and shopping, which was fun for me, but probably less exciting for the Budget Guru Andy. Here is Maddie looking super cute in a new spring dress!



Other than getting older and less, umm, Rubenesque, we are just enjoying our routines and watching Maddie grow. She is a very funny baby who needs to be the center of attention, and doesn't mind loudly reminding you of that. She has what I would call a "class clown" personality. Exhibit A , the following picture. What IS that face about?!?!



I love how in this one, she looks like she is holding his hand!



She loves to make funny noises, and if you laugh at her, she will repeat them ad nauseum. I use the phrase "Stop encouraging her!" a lot. She also loves her bath, just like her mommy!



Finally, one characteristic she gets from me! She has been scooting around on her belly for a while now, and has just started getting up on her hands and knees, so I think crawling will happen before I am ready for it. She still hasn't cut any teeth, which is fine by me. I want her to do it while we are in Tennessee next (May) so I have backup! I'm going to miss those gummy baby smiles!





This has been a pretty random post so I will end with a random story entitled "Adventures in Google-ing." Andy and I are on a home improvement kick, so last weekend I was on the computer looking for gardening ideas. I remembed something my dad was telling me about where you just buy a big terra cotta pot, and put it on your porch with all kinds of veggies or herbs in it. It's called a Container Garden and the idea sounded easy enough for my black thumb. Well, dumb me couldn't remember what it was called when I got on Google to look it up...so yeah, at any point now I'm expecting the cops, DEA, and President of the United States to bust down my door wanting to know why I was searching "How to grow a pot garden" on the Internet. Good thing I didn't look on YouTube.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Welcome, Spring!

Well, it's the first week of March in Texas, which means of course it was 87 degrees yesterday. The weather went from the 30s to the 80s in a week...this is just one of the many things that drives me crazy about this state. You can NEVER put your warm weather clothes away. Plus my allergies are going haywire. You would think I would be used to it after almost 3 years, but nope.

Sorry I don't have anything more exciting to post about than my allergies and the weather (when did I turn into an old lady?). The good news is I am kicking off my birthday celebration 8 days early with my girl's dinner at Maggiano's tonight! AND GiGi gets here on Thursday for a nice long visit, so I'm sure we will get into something noteworthy. In the meantime, here are some random pictures to show what we've been up to!

Maddie and Daddy. I think she is trying to figure out "What's that gross thing growing on your face?" And no, she doesn't have clothes on. We're country.



Maddie and Nathan. He is so cute, but if he turns out anything like his Dad this will be their first and LAST date.



Maddie's Entourage. Daisy and Duncan follow her wherever she is in the house. This is beyond annoying.



Abigail Joy Myser. Abby is our neighbor/good friends Scott and Sarah's baby. I tell people I prayed this baby into existence so Maddie would have a best friend across the street. Thank you Jesus!



Maddie and Abby's first play date.



Silly Face!



Andy "watching" the baby. Umm, I must have missed the day in Parenting Class when they told us how to watch the baby while sound asleep.



I love this picture!


Monday, March 2, 2009

More Fantastic Portraits from Erica Joyce Photography!

Copy and paste this link to see Maddie's 6-month photo shoot! Thanks Jake and Erica, these are awesome!

http://www.ericajoyce.com/cust/greiner09/